I don’t really do reviews because then I’m selling out to THE MAN and I am a delicate flower and don’t want people to hate me for being a sellout and stuff.

(Actually, no one has ever asked me to and I just put this here to sound important because that’s what all the cool kids do. And I wouldn’t know what to do anyways so do you really want to ask me? I mean, by all means, go ahead. Just know you’re dealing with a complete eejit, here.)

Hi there,
My Special Ed professor told me about your blog. So, when I went to it this evening and saw your photo, I could have sworn I recognized you from somewhere. My husband and I used to live in South Florida and I would attend a mommy meet-up with my oldest son, who was 1.5yrs at that time (2004-2006). The group I attended was a group of moms who had undergone fertility treatments and took Clomid, and we all had children with some sort of behavioral issue. We met on Yahoo Groups and supported each other through the therapists and diagnosis or lack of diagnosis with younger children.

I am also a knitter. We moved to the Charlotte, NC area in 2006. So, maybe somewhere there?

I hope I don’t sound creepy, but you look very familiar or look like someone I knew. I will keep up with your blog while I’m in school for teaching. You have a great sense of humor in your writing. I like the smash up of words to create new ones that represent a whole new idea.
Erika

You can buy color remover at the pharmacy in the hair dye section. I went to a salon once the day before a wedding. The girl said we can get you strawberry blonde from your childhood. She put 1drop of red in the hair dye I ended up with pink hair and lots of tears. They kept the shop open and put on the dye reversal thank goodness cause otherwise I would have been in hiding for 8 weeks.

I’m going to go ahead and ask, because I love love love your site and your take on pretty much everything!🙂

We are a small game and toy company (non-electronic games) that launched 3 games in 2012 and 2 more in 2013. We had been getting comments from parents of children on the autism spectrum how the first 3 card games were being enjoyed in their homes and even at their therapy and school sessions. So this summer we began working with an adaptive specialist at ASAnaysis (http://www.asanalysis.com/blog/) who put together a team of parents, therapists and special ed teachers to help up develop adaptive play suggestions for our games Spectrix, Array and CUBU. We would love to offer you a set to review and we would also be happy to provide a second set for a giveaway. Our info is here: http://funnybonetoys.com/adaptive-play/

Please let me know if you would like a set. We also just donated 50 sets to the Colorado Autism Society for their two big annual events. It is our biggest joy as a company to have products that can be enjoyed by all children.

CUBU has particularly been embraced by middle school special ed teachers, while Spectrix and Array are embraced for kids ages 4-10.

Interesting blog, I came across this as a result of my ADHD fleeting thoughts. Went to look up something on line for work, when an article about schoep the arthritic dog that sleeps in the water with his owner died, which caused me to follow some other links about how Dogs are sooo much better than people, and then Voilà! I wound up here. Initially just to see your reasons why Dogs are better than people ( Psst. You left out some majorly important reasons) Then, I have to admit your thought process and sense of humor enticed me to read some of your posts that frankly No Guy would ever want to admit to reading.

My children are not special needs children, at least not defined by medical terminology anyways. However they are 3rd generation of a “Full Blown Irish -Roman catholic-family”.(aka Future agnostics) A psychological affliction so severe they have yet to find a word powerful enough to be suitable as a name.

But We are Animal People: specifically Dogs. I had 5 of them together for a while, the Mother, Father, and a pup from each litter the parents had. They are all Labrador retrievers, and all have wicked calm temperaments that goes far above and beyond the gentle, loving, loyal characteristics Labs already have. When it was time to find them homes, I don’t think filling out an application, and a loving home evaluation form, ( psyche evaluation in disguise) was too much to ask. I may have sort of crossed a line by running background checks on any perspective clients. But hey, when you raise puppies from birth, in your home, its like giving away your children.

My wife will love you title of ” Domestic Engineer” I’m sure it will be a big improvement on the Title I gave her years ago, which was “House Nothing” But I gave her that nick in love (and a tad of frustration).You See, she also kinda realy sucked at house work too. She looked at is as; I’m a house wife, I just don’t do Windows . . . . or things like vacuum, dust, wash dishes, wash, dry, or fold laundry, sweep or mop floors, wipe off counters, put clean clothes away, or any other form of slave labor. She does however take the liberty to order take out 3-5 times a week, pay someone to do the food shopping, set up electronic bill paying on line, bribe the kids to sort of clean their rooms.

But I’m sure she does plenty of things that I’m just not aware of. Once again I see I have digressed as usual. So here are some of the Important reasons Dogs are better than people.

* Truly Unconditional love:
Parents tell their children, and husbands and wives tell each other that they have unconditional love for each other, but we all know there are may situations that can change unconditional to conditional: like a kid that posts that sexy nude pic you took for you hubby on every social network there is, a hub that says” No Hun, its not the dress that makes you look fat, its your fat ass and belly that make you look fat, a daughter that say she’s moving to LA because she was offered a job as a ” Fluffer”

A Dog However, you can scream at them, yell at them, ( God forbid, but even if you kicked them) All you have to do is call their name and they come running to you like you have a winning lottery ticket.

Dogs know that humans are the only species on earth that will kill each other for Profit, political gain, or Power, and they still choose to love us.

Dogs don’t care about social status, wealth, or power: If you live in a hut in Calcutta , your dog would not leave you to go stay with Warren Buffet, or God forbid the Kardashians.

Dogs are not Judgmental: If you were sneaking into your house at 3 AM smelling like a combo of perfume, cheap booze, and KY super Hot, with your pants on inside out, and a bra slipping out of your pant leg, You dog would not look at you like: I Am so ashamed of you, don’t even think of rubbing my belly.

Dogs are Loyal to the extreme: If you and a bunch of friends were walking down the street and a bunch of thugs with baseball bats jumped out and grabbed you, how many of your friends would stick around to help you and your dog who wouldn’t think of leaving you?

Wow this turned into a ramble .. . ok short and sweet.

Dogs have almost no expectations From you; All you have to do is be there and they love you.

Dogs don’t hold grudges.

Dogs know when your sad and try to comfort you, they also know when your upset and give you space.

Dogs know that sometimes your just too tired to play, and will gladly just lay beside you as you rest.

Dogs know that even people that don’t like dogs sometimes need a hug when they are really upset.

A dog will take a bullet for you if he had too.

I could go one forever, but the simple pint is this: How many people do you know that you could describe using the lines above?

Love your site. Makes me feel less alone. I am the mom of a 20 yr old son with “high-functioning” ASD that wasn’t diagnosed until age 15, which means he was mainstreamed at school, got no supportters and was generally bullied and marginalized. He is bright, loving, personable and hard-working, but his social skills are…well, you know. We are working on that. (I also have a teenage daughter who struggles with Bipolar disorder, and we struggle right along with her). On the upside, I have 4 dogs, 2 cats, 3 gerbils, a cockatiel and a pony (all but the cockatiel & youngest gerbil are rescues. And the kids, they’re totally not rescues). Reading your stuff is bittersweet, because I wish I wish i WISH I’d followed my gut and pushed harder to get help for my son when he was younger & would have benefited so much more….Anyway, I feel less alone when trolling around your site, and I thank you for every good idea, every lead, and every bit of humor you’ve shared that’s made my life better. Best wishes to you and your little fellas.

Hi Marj, I know that you mentioned being not interested in reviewing items. But at the same time you said to contact you either way….so….we would love to send you some sample products for you and your family to try out. Please contact me directly. Great blog! http://www.Checkpointwristbands.com